Equipment enclosures are used to store a wide variety of equipment. For example, equipment enclosures may be used to store electronic devices, such as personal computers, hubs, routers, and the like. An equipment enclosure may also be used to store equipment other than electronic devices, such as boxes, tools, medical supplies, and so forth. Equipment enclosures may sometimes be referred to as equipment racks, equipment cabinets, or the like.
Equipment enclosures are produced in differing widths to accommodate varying equipment requirements. One standard equipment enclosure is commonly referred to as a “19 inch rack,” which denotes that the enclosure is designed to accommodate equipment with a standard width of 19 inches. Equipment that is to be stored in the enclosures may be designed to conform to industry standard dimensions. One standard dimension is referred to as “1 U,” which equals 1.75 inches. Equipment to be stored in the enclosures may be made to have a height that is a multiple of 1 U. That is, equipment may be made to have a height of 1 U (1.75 inches), 2 U (3.50 inches), 3 U (4.25 inches), etc.
Equipment enclosures typically include four corner vertical mounting rails or two center vertical mounting rails. Vertical arrays of mounting holes or fastener mounting receptacles facilitate the retention of the equipment into the enclosure. Support shelves may be attached to the mounting rails via the mounting holes or receptacles, and equipment may be positioned on top of the support shelves. Some equipment enclosures include a housing that either partially or completely encloses the mounting rails.
One specific use of equipment enclosures is for storing a computer cluster. A computer cluster is a group of computers working together in a distributed computer system. Computer clusters are an increasingly popular alternative to more traditional computer architectures and supercomputers. Each individual computer of the cluster is typically referred to as a node. Nodes of a cluster work together as a single entity or in groups to cooperatively provide processing power and mass storage.
It is often desirable to maximize the amount of equipment that an equipment enclosure may store. One way to accomplish this is to utilize the area outside the region bounded by the vertical mounting rails. However, this area is left unused in known equipment enclosures.